to is, how are we going to grow an economy in which everybody gets a fair shot? and governor romney's prescription is that if we cut taxes by $5 trillion, skewed towards the wealthy, and we roll back regulations that i've put in place, that somehow, the economy is going to grow. and i fundamentally disagree with that. >> reporter: your supporters have been saying, this wasn't a bad night. he didn't show up. >> it just looked like, to me, he really didn't want to be there. his mind wasn't on it. he didn't want to engage. >> reporter: this is legendary democratic strategist james carville. >> well, as i've said, you know, there's no doubt that i can make a better case. which is why i'm so looking forward to tuesday. >> reporter: but again, why did it happen? al gore said, was it the altitude? >> you know, the -- i'm not going to speculate on that. >> reporter: no lesson learned from it? is that what you're going -- >> well, i do think one lesson learned is just to make sure that people understand how much is at stake and how deeply i care about it. >> reporter: but we asked the presid